Gymnasium walls are often covered with wall pads to reduce the possibility of injury when an athlete hits the wall. The wall pads are typically made of foam covered in thin sheets of polyvinyl chloride (vinyl) or other suitable polymer. Gymnasium walls commonly contain electrical outlets and switches, fire extinguishers, thermostats, controls, etc. that must be accessible. When gymnasium walls are covered with wall pads, holes must be provided in the wall pads to provide this access.
The holes in the wall pads are sometimes left unfinished, but this is unattractive and can lead to unraveling or other damage to the wall pad. The exposed foam surfaces around the perimeter of the hole are sometimes patched with pieces of vinyl, but this procedure is time consuming and creates uneven results. In addition, the result is unattractive and not durable. A more common solution is to place a one-piece molded polymeric (plastic) wall pad sleeve into the hole. One-piece molded plastic wall pad sleeves provide an attractive appearance and prevent damage to the wall pad, but are not variable in cross-sectional size. Therefore, a separate mold must be made for every different hole size.
Wall pad sleeves that can be used with wall pads of different thickness or with holes of different cross-sectional size have been disclosed. Schroeder, U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,562, Aug. 3, 2004, discloses a one-piece molded polymeric wall pad sleeve that is suited for wall pads of differing thicknesses, but is suited for only one cross-sectional size. For example, the wall pad sleeve shown in the drawings fits only a standard electrical box. McGowan et al., U.S. Pat. Appin. Publn. No. 2018/0016800, Jan. 18, 2018, discloses a wall pad sleeve for holes in wall pad having varying size and shape. The McGowan et al. wall pad sleeve has a plurality of corner pieces and side rails that are connected with connectors. The side rails are cut to the desired size at the installation site. The corner pieces and side rails butt against each other so the side rails must be cut to the precise length.
Other types of products containing variable length side rails with connectors have also been disclosed. For example, Biro, U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,796, Aug. 1, 2000, discloses a valance and Day, U.S. Pat. Appin. Publn. No. 2002/0166299, Nov. 14, 2002, discloses a door frame.
Accordingly, there is a demand for a wall pad sleeve that provides an attractive appearance to the wall pad, prevents damage to the wall pad, is easily modified to fit holes of varying size without requiring precise cuts, fits wall pads of varying depth, does not require the use of connectors, is easily installed, and is durable.